Uttarakhand Avalanche Top Updates: 10 killed, eight rescued as avalanche hits group of 34 trainee mountaineers

Ten mountaineers were killed in an avalanche at Mount Draupadi Ka Danda - II peak in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Tuesday, PTI quoted officials as saying. While eight others have been rescued, several others are still feared trapped. 

A team of 34 trainee mountaineers and seven instructors from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was caught in an avalanche while returning, NIM Principal Colonel Amit Bisht said. Ten bodies were sighted, of which four have been recovered, he added.

Authorities at State Emergency Operation Centre said that the snout of the glacier is located at an altitude of around 3,700 metre while the avalanche has taken place around Draupadi-ka-Danda at around 5,300 metre altitude.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief on the incident and said that Local administration, SDRF, NDRF, ITBP and Army teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations.

The avalanche prompted Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to seek the Army's help to expedite rescue operations. The National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and a team of mountaineers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering have already launched rescue operations, Dhami said in a tweet.

"Rapid relief and rescue operations are being carried out by the district administration, NDRF, SDRF, Army and ITBP personnel along with the team of NIM to rescue the trainees trapped in the avalanche in Draupadi's Danda-2 mountain peak at the earliest," the Chief Minister's Office tweeted.

The chief minister also spoke to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over phone and sought the Army's help in speeding up the rescue operations.

Expressing grief at the incident, Singh said that he had spoken to the Uttarakhand CM and took stock of the situation. “I have instructed the IAF to mount the rescue and relief ops. Praying for everyone’s safety and well-being,” he tweeted.